Here’s the thing: I might be able to handle living in Stony Butte for a while, but I wonder if Kate can. I really think I might be better at coping with change than she is. I know you think Kate is awesome because she’s actually nice to you, but you don’t have to live with her. You’re lucky not to have a sister.

She’s been losing weight ever since we got here. And she had no weight to lose because she’s been on a diet since she was ten. I paid enough attention in our health class to know that’s not healthy. I still remember when your mom tried to talk to Kate about how eating properly is a human right and how she should claim her space in the world by staying strong and healthy. Only your mom could talk to Kate like that. Kate’d take my head off if I tried. Right now, she’s not eating carbs, and my mom says she’s worried about her, but she can’t really say anything about it because she’s not eating carbs either.

To be honest, I’m not even sure what carbs are. All I know is that they’re in most things that are delicious, such as chips, fries, candy, and pop. Also, beets and cashews. I know this because my mom and my sister had a huge fight last night because my mom made a dish that had beets and cashew butter in it, and my sister said she wouldn’t eat it because of carbs, and my mom said Kate was taking things too far, and Kate said maybe my mom didn’t take things far enough.

I have no idea what she meant and I don’t want to know.

I don’t get involved in the negativity or arguments. After all, Rule #10 literally says: Avoid the Negative. I also try to mind my own business, which is why I didn’t want to tell Kate I was home. But it’s also important to be friendly, so I knocked anyway. I tried to do it in a casual way, not a checking up on her way. The not-eating thing makes me want to check on her a lot. She hates that. I guess because it’s negative. I don’t know. You were always better than me at following that rule.

“What?” she said through her door, which is all scuffed up like all the doors in the house.

“I’m home.”

“Duh,” she said. Kate doesn’t think it’s important to be friendly or easygoing. I think it’s from not enough carbs, probably. Not that I’d ever risk my life by saying that to her.

“Have a good day?” I asked.

“Oh my god,” she said. “Enough already, Rodney.”